Teryl Austin didn’t like the result. Along with the rest of the greater Cincinnati area. His decision go for an all-out, cover-zero blitz backfired in the form of a 31-yard catch-and-run-and-stab-in-the-heart of the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

Leaving his defense without any safety help in that situation came with a risk. But Austin stood strong Monday, saying he’ll live with the risk if it means his team knows he plans to always stay aggressive.

“The one thing I don't ever want to do, I don't want to second-guess myself, I don't want our players to second-guess themselves when they're out there playing," Austin said. “So we're going to play aggressively. We're playing to win. And I thought at that point, that gave us the best chance to win. I didn't want to leave it into the field goal kicker's hands and allow him because it's not every day you block a field goal.”

At the time it would have set up for a 49-yard field goal but the Pittsburgh Steelers had two timeouts and 15 seconds left. Chris Boswell, while perfect for his career at Paul Brown Stadium, missed all three of his kicks longer than 40 yards this season.

Still, Austin saw an opportunity to create pressure or even push them back out of field goal range.

“I wanted to make sure they didn't get any more yards,” Austin said. “They were right at the fringe of where we thought they were able to kick it, and my thing is I wanted to get a negative play, I wanted to go after them and make them have to make a decision. It didn't work this time.”

Instead, Justin Hunter blocked Tony McRae on a controversial no-call of a offensive pass interference and the rest is watching the back of Brown's jersey.

NFL head of officiating Al Riveron addressed the no-call on Sunday night, stating the fact McRae “initiated contact” was the reason offensive pass interference was not called on Hunter and was the correct call. Multiple national pundits and even a former official commented they saw it the other way.

Inevitably, it didn’t matter. The Bengals blitzed and got burnt so we never would learn if Boswell could shake his struggles from 40-plus.

It was far from the first time Ben Roethlisberger burnt them on a blitz Sunday. Via Pro Football Focus, here were Roethlisberger’s splits against Bengals blitzes versus non-blitzes:

Blitzes not getting home to the quarterback were only part of the problem. Not only was Roethlisberger not sacked, but he was also only touched once. Plus, the defense didn’t create a single turnover.

That meant the Bengals' typically productive pass rushers – including Geno Atkins, NFL leader in pressures – were held in check. Austin gave part of the credit to the Steelers’ offensive line.

“They did a good job in protection,” Austin said. “We didn’t get him down nearly as much. Obviously, we didn’t sack him at all. But we didn’t knock him down, get him down, harass him enough to make him uncomfortable. When he sits down in the pocket and moves around, he’s dangerous and it showed. The more opportunities he got the better he was. That’s how it worked out yesterday.”

And part of the equation on the final drive and final play. Austin decided he wasn’t going to watch Roethlisberger sit back in the pocket and took on the risk associated with forcing the issue on a day four rushers weren’t enough.